Visa Issuance Possible in Juarez, Mexico
Posted Nov 21, 2001

Note: We only post information received officially from sources like the U.S. Department of State (DOS) and the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA). If certain consulates in Canada and Mexico have decided to accept NIV appointments made prior to November 16, 2001, we will post this only after we hear from official sources. You should check with the concerned consulate in Mexico or Canada to confirm if you your NIV interview will be conducted on the scheduled date and time.

We are writing this report as a follow up to our NewsFlash of November 19, 2001, sent to MurthyBulletin subscribers by The Law Office of Sheela Murthy. In that NewsFlash, we outlined the U.S. Department of State (DOS)'s position that there would be a temporary freeze on issuing non-immigrant visas (NIVs) to third country nationals (TCNs) at the U.S. Consulates in Canada and Mexico. We have learned that DOS has now advised that the consular post at Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, has decided that it will honor existing non-immigrant visa appointments that were confirmed prior to the temporary freeze.

Please note that although Ciudad Juarez intends to honor existing NIV appointments, there is no guarantee that the visa will be issued to the visa applicant. We anticipate that in the current climate visa applicants may encounter difficulties in this regard and should take that into consideration in deciding to travel outside the U.S. Also, Juarez will not accept any new NIV appointments for TCNs after the DOS announced the temporary freeze, which was effective from November 16, 2001.

At this time we have no information as to whether any other consular posts will honor existing NIV appointments that were previously confirmed by the post. We will keep you updated as we receive further information.